December 2015: Quentin Sadler

Quentin Sadler presented an excellent evening of “Whats new from Chile” Sadly we only had a limited turnout, but perhaps to be expected in the week before Christmas. They missed a treat. Quentin is an excellent speaker and brought along some good Visuals as well as the wine.

The Wines:

2013 Undurraga Sibaris Leyda Sauvignon Blanc Viña Underraga, D.O. Valle de Leyda - £8.99

2013 Corte Ignacio Chardonnay Concha y Toro, D.O. Litueche, Rapel Coastal - £8.95

2012 Errazuriz The Blend White Viña Errazuriz, D.O. Valle de Aconcagua - £18.99

2013 Reserva de Pueblo País Miguel Torres Chile, D.O. Secano Interior Curicó - £7.50

2011 Errazuriz Wild Ferment Pinot Noir Viña Errazuriz, D.O. Valle de Casablanca - £15.00

2013 Gallardía del Itata Cinsault De Martino, Secano Interior Coelemu, D.O. Itata - £12.50

2011 Tabalí Reserva Especial Syrah Viña Tabalí, D.O. Limarí Valley £10.99

2008 Eclat Old Vine Blend Valdivieso, D.O. Valle de Maule - £14.00

The 3 best were widely reckoned to be

The Pueblo Pais – at £7.50 from the Wine Society (a real steal.)

The Tabali Reserve at £10.99 from Majestic, and

The Eclat Old Wine Blend at £14.00 from Winedirect.

All 3 are inky black full bodied items, so pay your money and take your choice!!

November 2015- Food and Wine Matching by Peter Freeman

Peter Freeman presented food and wine matching for Christmas.... Sadly, I couldn't be there, working in remote Scotland but I'm told it was a good evening, and for the record the wines were:

1) Champagne 1er Cru Ludes NV Monmarthe "Prestige"   

2) Pedro's Oloroso 

3) Gewurztraminer Grand Cru Kaefferkopf 2013 Domaine Freyburger  

4) Bellingham Estate Chenin Blanc 2014

5) Moulin a Vent 2012 Domaine du Gueret

 6) Vina Pomal Reserva 2010

7) Sauternes 2012 Guinabert "la Courrege" 

8) De Bortoli Liqueur Muscat

October 2015 - Laithwaites Beaconsfield

Presented by Dan, the Manager of the Beaconsfield Shop, and Craig Duggan from Head Office. Dan did most of the talking, and preseted some very decent wines, and in the spirit of the UWS, went somewhat off-piste with some less well known wines & grape varieties.

I have to admit, I wasn't aware that Laithwiates have retail shops – I thought they were On-Line/Mail Order only. In fact they have about 20 shops, mostly in the SE but some up in the Midlands and West country.

We got off to a slow start, but it got noiser and noisier as we went on.. All very good wines

For me the best vfm were the Orgoglio and the Corsiero Nero. The Orgoglio is actually the Muscat of Alexandria grape creating a very nice easy drinking white, while the Corsiero Nero is the little known Nero de Troia grape, which is more rounded and accessible than its better know relative the Nero d'Avola. An honourable mention also goes to the Lobo e Falcao from Portugal.

STUMBLE VINEYARDS WHITE PINOTAGE - South Africa 2014- £8.99

ORGOGLIO BIANCO ZIBIBBO - Sicily 2012 - £11.99

LOBO E FALCÃO BRANCO - Portugal 2014 - £9.99

LE C DU CHAI BORDEAUX AOC -2013 - £13.99

CORSIERO NERO DI TROIA – Puglia 2014 - - £9.99

HJ FABRE BARREL SELECTION MALBEC - Argentina 2013- £14.99

BLACK DUCK DURIF -SE Australia 2014 - £9.99

REDHEADS BARREL MONKEYS SHIRAZ – McClaren Vale, Aus. 2014 - £13.99

September 2015 - Broadening your Horizons

This month we had our very own Tony, presenting unusual wines from unusual countries – or “Broadening your Horizons". He went to a lot of time & effort finding and sourcing all these wines with a couple of good finds. All the wines are from M&S, except the Macedonian.

White

India: Jewel of Nasik – Sauvignon Blanc. £7 – Worth a punt. Pretty decent white.

Japan: Sol Lucent Koshu – Koshu. £13. Koshu is apparently Japans Number 1 grape. Well, no. Just don't. Tasted of almost nothing. There are a million better ways of spending £13 per bottle

Croatia: Marko & Marino – Malvasia. £10. Rounded, Well bodied. Reasonable.

Red

England: Spirit of London – European Grapes. £16. This is a wine made in London of European grapes. Its OK. But you can get the same quality for less than half the price. Why bother? I can't really understand the target market here.

Macedonia: Aemilia – Shiraz, Vranac, Petit Verdot £9.99 (Waitrose) – Pretty decent. Deep black, good tannins. Worth a go.

Israel: Raconati – Carignan, Petit Syrah. £10. A very decent wine - But you can (could?) get it at £6 online if you buy a case. Which would be a steal.

Georgia: Ordvela – Saperavi. £16.99. A very respectable wine, and just a little different. Might be worth trying, but it is a touch on the pricy side.

Greece: Anthemis – Vind de Liqueur of Samos. A good sticky..

A good evening...

August 2015 - Brazilian Wines – Nicholas Corfe of Go Brazil

Nick presented some excellent wines, which are also excellent value. Brazil is not the first country that comes to mind when you think of wine, but the south of Brazil is roughly the same latitude as the wine growing areas of Chile,Argentina and Uruguay. Most of the wines here come from that area, with the Rio Sol coming from 8 degrees off the equator – which gives 2 crops a year!

The favourites were the Sanjo Moscato, which is a classic muscat – tasitng of grapes, clean, fresh and well made; the Amadeu sparkler which compares very well with many Champagnes at the same price; and the Assinatura which was the star of the evening – even at the price. Nick kindly gave us a modest discount and we rustled up enough to order 4 cases of wine – 16 of the Assinatura, which speaks volumes of how well liked it was.

All the whites were clean, fresh, well made, so chose your poisin, the reds also very good although the Rio Sol is perhaps a bit so-so.

All in all some great wines, and well worth investigating. Give them a go.....

AmadeuSparkling Brut Champenoise 2013 12.5% £17

Sanjo Moscato 13% £9

Campos de Cima Viognier 2014 13% £11

Sanjo Nubio Sauvignon Blanc 2013 13.5% £12

Rio Sol Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 13% £9

Pizzato Fuasto Tannat 2010 13% £11

Sanjo Nubio Malbec 2013 12% £13

Campo de Cima Assintura 2014 13% £18

July 2015 - Greek Wine from Maltby & Greek

Maltby and Greek are a specialist in all things Greek, trading out of Maltby Street market and Druid Street in Bermondsey.

Stephanos presented us with a range of wines, from fizz to a vino santo

Domaine Karanikas Brut Cuvee Speciale -, Xynomavro, Amyndeon NV. £23

Domaine Spiropoulos - Moschofilero, Mantinia 2014 £12.90

Alpha Estate - Malagouzia Amyndeon 2014 £12.80

Domaine Sigalas - Assyrtiko, Santorini 2014 £16

Domaine Sigalas – Mandilaria Mavrotragano, Santorini 2014 £15.70

Vourvoukelis – Limnio Xanthi 2013 £15.80

Alpha Estate Old Vines Reserve Xynomavro, Amyndeon 2010 £17.50

Domaine Sigalas Vinsanto Assyrtiko-Aidani, Santorini 2004 - £29/500ml

The wines are pretty good, but sadly are expensive for what they are – the Greeks only export a very small proportion of their wine. Probably the best, to my mind was the Old Vines reserve, which probably is worth the money.

June 2015 - Ian Webb, Aldeby WInes, Languedoc Roussillon

An excellent evening, presented by Ian Webb of Aldeby Wines. Those who weren't there missed some great wines and some really informative spiel from Ian. These wines all offer something a little different. Languedoc Roussillon grows a phenomenal amount of wine, a lot of which is of less common grape varieties – like Picpoul, Rousanne, Carignan, Mourvedre, Grenache – so if you belong to the ABC club, these are for you!

White Wines

Grange des Rocs, Picpoul de Pinet 2014

AOP Picpoul de Pinet

Daumas Gassac, Reserve de Gassac, Blanc 2014

VdeP de l'Herault

Chateau Mourgues de Gres, Terre d'Argence Blanc 2012

IGP VdeP du Gard.

Red Wines

Chateau Mourgues de Gres, let Galets Rouges 2012

AOP Costieres de Nimes

Close de l'Azerolle, Veilles Vignes 2013

AOP Minervois

Domaine d'Auphilhac, Montpeyroux 2012

AOP Montpeyroux

Chateau Ollieux-Romanis, Atal Sia 2011

AOP Corbieres-Boutenac

Fortified Wine

Mas Amiel, Vintage 2012

AOP Maury

For me, all the whites offered something out of the ordinary, a little different, while the reds were more individual. The first and last reds are both well balanced, the middle two more tannic and harsh – but Ian assured us that they both need a couple more year in bottle.

The gem of the evening was the last – a vin doux naturelle, pure grenache fermeted to 4-5% only, then stopped by fortifying to 18% with ethanol. Fan- tastic...

Ian doesn't sell direct, but all these wines are available mail order from a variety of suppliers. All worth trying.